It was a night like any other. The sky was clear of any and all clouds, revealing both the sparkling stars and the brilliantly bright full moon. The air was cool and quiet, and all throughout the town, there was calm and peace, as if nothing could go wrong. The one notable exception to this was a small cafe on an unassuming street corner. Usually, such a place like this would be fairly quiet, even in spite of how many people were using it. But tonight was different. For within this establishment, all that one could hear was the sound of squabbles and bickering. A few young couples, arguing over some sour point in their relationship. A pair of neighbours, whose friendship seemed to have broken down for some unexplained reason. And this was just the start of it, for there were many others in this exact position, constantly at each other's throats, as if ready to break out into all-out fights. The quarrelling and snaps at one another made up the entire atmosphere of this place, making it an incredibly hostile place to be. And yet, nestled amongst all the arguments and angry voices, there was another, less-noticeable sound. This was no aggressive back-and-forth, but rather, a song. It was a chorus of voices, all chanting in unison, their song quite calm and collected when compared to the riots going on around them.

The singing was strange to hear, ethereal, soothing, and even beautiful. And yet, something was almost inherently wrong about it. If one were to hear it, they would feel deep down that they should not be listening to it, but would already be so enraptured by it that they could not turn away. The songs were coming from a small and poorly-lit corner table of the cafe, where nobody else was even bothering to look. And around that table sat three figures. It was clear from looking that these were all young women, with two of them sitting on one side of the table and one on the other, and they were clad in an almost-uniform attire of sneakers, jeans and hoodies, the hoods of which were pulled up over their heads, obscuring their faces in shadow. But it was around their necks that the true items of interest lay. For each and every one of them was wearing a black necklace, from which hung shining red jewels of some sort. As they gleamed brightly, the girls, all of whom still kept on singing, were keeping their hands close to the gems, almost how like a mother would cradle a child. It was clear that these items were precious to them, and it was not hard to see why, given what seemed to be going on around them.

For all over, as the various friends and couples continued their rants at each other, there was an eerie green mist about the place, all of which was being drawn somehow to the girls and their amulets. It was unquestionably an act of magic of some sort, and one that would no doubt send a chill down the spines of those who actually noticed it. As the girls carried on with their hypnotic-sounding song, the mist was being absorbed by their jewels, causing them to glow as more and more of it was drawn in, and it was not long before this process had reached its end, with the three of them finally finishing their singing. With that now done, the three let out a sigh before all opening their eyes, with two of them lowering their hoods soon afterwards. The first girl had pink skin and long purple hair with blue streaks, which was held as pigtails on either side of her head. The second had a light-blue tone with a sky-blue hair and dark blue highlights held in a single ponytail. The first girl's face was bearing a look of both boredom and great annoyance, as also evidenced by her tone of voice and the scoff she let out when this was all done.

"Ugh! That was barely worth the effort, Adagio."

The girl slouched down a little before leaning her head into her hand.

"I'm tired of fast food. I need a meal!"

It was here that the third girl, Adagio, who was sitting opposite the other two, lowered her hood. Her skin had a yellow tone and her quite sizeable orange hair had yellow highlights. Her face, as one might expect after a remark like that from her comrade, was one of irritation, complete with a raised eyebrow.

"The energy in this world isn't the same as in Equestria."

She looked away from the other two girls, her expression becoming one of clear resentment.

"We can only gain so much power here."

The purple-haired girl, now looking more annoyed than before, folded her arms and slumped backwards into her chair, letting out yet another annoyed grunt.

"Argh! I wish we'd never been banished to this awful place!"

Adagio looked at her companion and broke out into an obviously fake smile, before then speaking with an equally-false upbeat tone.

"Really? I love it here!"

Her face quickly reverted to its more unfriendly expression, her act now dropped. The sarcasm in her statement would have been clear to even the most dim-witted of people. Well, perhaps not the most dim-witted, as the third girl of their group finally spoke up in response to Adagio's words.

"For realsies? Because I think this place is the worst!"

Under normal circumstances, a group of people who had known each other as long as these three might have let such a foolish comment as that just slide by. However, tonight seemed to be proving especially frustrating for the three of them, as the purple-haired girl looked at her blue-haired compatriot with a scornful look on her eyes.

"I think you're the worst, Sonata!"

The other girl, Sonata, looked back at her fellow outcast with a look of indignation as she rested one elbow on the table, ready to make her retort.

"Oh yeah? Well I think you're..."

Unfortunately for Sonata, but thankfully for everyone else, this back and forth between the two of them was interrupted by a loud grunt given off by Adagio. The two girls looked over to her, where she was rubbing her temples, clearly frustrated with their behaviour, before then looking up to the two of them.

"I'll tell you one thing...being stuck here with you two isn't making this world any...more...bearable!"

The purple-haired girl narrowed her eyes at that remark.

"Well excuse us! We could always leave if you'd prefer that, Adagio!"

The girls' leader frowned at that.

"Oh, you'd like that, wouldn't you, Aria? Me, out of the picture so you can swoop in and be the new leader? Not on my watch!"

Aria scoffed at that.

"Yeah right! If you were gone, the only person I'd be leader of was Sonata over here! No thanks!"

The three of them glared angrily at one another, and it really did seem like they were about to break out into an argument not unlike the one's they'd ironically just fed upon in the rest of the cafe. However, before things came to a head, they were halted by a sudden "ahem" to their side. Turning, the three of them looked upon yet another girl, with long purple hair and clad in a blue shirt with purple skirt. She had a somewhat upbeat feel to her, as she offered a small smile to each of them. However, given their current mood, Adagio was not inclined to pay her much attention.

"I'm sorry to be rude, dear, but my friends and I aren't interested in anything you have to say to us."

But the new girl simply folded her arms and raised an eyebrow before speaking to them.

"My name is Twilight Sparkle. I'm an alicorn from Equestria...and I'm here to offer you a means to get back home."

Immediately, silence feel upon the three girls, as they stared intently at this newcomer, this Twilight. They half-expected this to be some kind of joke, and so started looking around as if some kind of hidden camera was about to pop up and surprise them. But no, there was not a trace of deception in this girl's face, leading to Adagio finally speaking up again.

"Okay...you have our attention."

Twilight smiled at that, before then gesturing to the empty space next to where Adagio was sitting. After giving it a few moment's thought, the latter nodded, scooting over a bit and giving Twilight the okay to sit beside her, which she did. After seating herself and looking at each of the girls in-turn, Twilight cleared her throat before speaking.

"Adagio Dazzle. Aria Blaze. Sonata Dusk. The Sirens. Creatures who once terrorised Equestria in the hopes of enchanting and, ultimately, conquering it."

Adagio flipped some of her hair back and let out a chuckle at that.

"Our reputation precedes us it seems."

Turning to Twilight, she raised an eyebrow.

"Tell me...do they still talk about us back home?"

Twilight turned to her with confusion.

"How...how long do you think you've been here?"

The smiles faded from the group after Twilight asked that question, at which point it became Aria's time to add her voice to all of this.

"Er...a few months? A year, at the most."

But Twilight shook her head.

"I'm afraid I’ve got some bad news. Time works differently in this world than in does back in Equestria. To you, you've only been here a short while, but back home...about a thousand years have gone by."

That caught their attention immediately, as they looked to each other with shock. They said nothing, but they were all more than likely thinking the same thing; that their exploits and past attempts at controlling the Equestrians was probably just myths and legends at this point. Whatever fame and adoration they might have hoped to gain in those ancient days was almost certainly gone by this point. Naturally, this was something of a sore spot for them, as Aria and Sonata hung their heads somewhat. But Adagio, as usual, was more on point that her comrades, and never let her eyes stray from Twilight.

"Then I assume that accursed stallion is...?"

She never finished her question, but Twilight nevertheless got the gist of it.

"Yes...Starswirl the Bearded is...no longer among the living."

She hesitated to use the word "dead", given her own meeting with the stallion, or at least what might have been him. She was still unsure about all that. Even so, she turned to face Adagio before continuing.

"You know...he regretted having to send you here, Adagio. He'd hoped that, one day, someone else might be able to help you, to make you understand that controlling others wasn't the way to live your lives."

Adagio rolled her eyes at that.

"Spare me the sermons, alicorn. All I'm interested in is that offer you made. You say you can get us back to Equestria?"

Twilight nodded, frowning slightly at the former-siren's remark.

"I can. I'm willing to offer you and your friends a way back...if you're willing to hear me out."

Sonata smiled widely at that, and opened her mouth to speak, perhaps to accept the offer straight away. However, she was soon halted by a raised hand from Adagio, whose eyes narrowed at Twilight.

"Given what we tried to do to your kind, I find it hard to believe that you would make such an offer...without some kind of strings attached."

Twilight, upon hearing that, let out a sigh.

"You're right. There are conditions along with this."

Aria let out a scoff after hearing that.

"Ugh! I knew it was too good to be true!”

But Adagio didn’t seem to be as bothered as her compatriot, and bore a mischievous smirk as she held onto her red gem.

“You know…I’ll bet you might be willing to ease off on any conditions…after listening to us.”

She glanced at the other girls, and in an instant, they all got the message, now bearing smirks of their own. Together, they all held their hands up to their gems and took in a deep breath, ready to sing and, presumably, cast some sort of enchantment upon Twilight. However, as they began to restart their chorus from before, they noted, to their annoyance, that the purple-haired girl wasn’t acting any differently, instead just looking at them with slight irritation. Naturally, this frustrated them somewhat, and after a full minute of singing, they stopped, now convinced that their power didn’t affect this girl in the slightest. Seeing the confusion on their faces, Twilight explained herself.

“I am a bearer of one of the Elements of Harmony. As such, I carry a bit of its magic with me wherever I go. Your songs won’t affect me, no matter how long you do it for.”

As one might expect, this news came to the chagrin of the sirens, who looked at each other with both shock and disappointment. Eventually, Aria slumped back into her chair before speaking up again.

“Argh! Fine then! So...wadda ya want from us?"

Twilight fell into silence for a moment, regarding each of the former sirens around her, thinking over how best to word her offer. In time, she finally spoke again.

"There is a portal connecting this world to Equestria. Pass through it and you'll be home again. But...the journey will cost you."

She did not finish her words, and instead turned to Adagio. But, it was not the girl's face Twilight glanced at, but rather lower down. Curious, the siren leader looked down herself, and saw, to her horror, that Twilight was looking right at her pendant. Immediately, she now had a clear idea in her head as to what the alicorn-turned-human wanted of them, and so clutched her red gem protectively.

"Are you serious?! You want us to give up our powers?!"

As soon as Adagio had spoken those words, Aria and Sonata looked at Twilight angrily. But Twilight herself remained calm, simply nodded in response to Adagio.

"That's exactly what I'm proposing. If I felt you were trustworthy, maybe I’d be willing to let you keep the power you've had for so long. But everything I know about you makes it very clear to me that, given the chance, you'd try and take over Equestria again, just as you did in ancient times."

Adagio frowned at that.

"And if we were to refuse you? If we were to, say, use this portal of yours to go back and just decide to keep our magic...what then?"

But Twilight was not worried about that.

"Let me make this clear to you, Adagio. Pass through that portal, and you will lose your power. I made sure of that."

The way she'd spoken that made it obvious that she wasn't bluffing, much to Adagio's chagrin. She turned, looking upon her fellow sirens, who seemed to be just as irritated with this offer as she was. Slowly, she turned to glare at Twilight once more as the latter spoke up.

"Look...I know you probably hate the sound of this offer, but the world you wanted for yourself doesn't exist. You can't make it for yourself here, and letting you try and take control back home isn’t an option. This, that I'm offering you...it's the best of both words. We get to ensure you don't put us under your spell...and you get to leave this world that you've been imprisoned in."

Adagio raised an eyebrow.

"Then tell us...why should we accept an offer as hugely one-sided as the one you've just given us?"

Twilight took a deep breath before explaining herself.

"Because...since coming to this world, you've done nothing but scrape by. The magic here is so minimal that you're just barely able to keep yourselves fed. Stay here, and that will be your life...moving from place to place, getting by on whatever small amount of negative energy you can gather for yourselves."

Those words hit hard for the sirens, as each of them knew, but were unwilling to admit, that Twilight had a point. That had indeed been their lives here, and they'd hated every single moment of it. Even so, they listened as she carried on.

"But...if you come back to Equestria, your powers may be taken...but it'll also mean you'll be able to live without those negative energies. That much, I also made sure would happen."

She turned, looking Adagio straight in the eye.

"I know it's not what you would have wanted for the three of you, Adagio...but you know I cannot simply give you free reign in Equestria like you used to have. So that's the choice you have before you. Remain here, miserable, and scraping by on what little you can find...or go home, where you'll be able to have at least some kind of life."

Turning back, Twilight looked at Aria, and then Sonata.

"Because the way you've been here so far, simply surviving...isn't living...and you know it."

A few moments of silence afterwards was followed by Sonata glaring at Twilight, trying to look as menacing as possible, which, with her being Sonata, wasn’t very menacing at all.

"You know...when it comes to making deals for your enemies...you kinda suck at it."

In spite of everything, Twilight let out a dry chuckle.

"So I've been told...many times."

They said nothing to her, instead watching as she got up from the table once more, looking to each of them before speaking her final words.

"The portal is located at the base of the horse statue just in front of the high school in Canterlot. I'll be waiting there for you for about a day. If you don't show up by then...I’ll be returning to Equestria without you."

And that was all she had left to say to them, as the sirens watched her walk off. They turned, looking through their nearby window as she made her way out of the café and down the main street. With Twilight now gone, the three girls looked to each other in utter silence, thinking hard on the offer they'd been given. They knew that losing their powers was something that none of them wanted, and yet, given that those in Equestria knew full well what they'd do with those powers if they still had them, it wasn't unreasonable that they'd want the three of them to give it up before letting them return. Although, they were, naturally, loathe to admit to that. Aria and Sonata looked to each other, neither one sure of what to say about this. But, when they looked to Adagio, they saw her thinking deeply on the matter. At the end of the day, it was a chance at freedom. Granted, that freedom came with strings attached, and some unpleasant ones at that, but even so, it was a means for them to get out of this human world they hated so much. After several minutes of thinking this over, Sonata was the one who broke the silence.

"Um...Dagi? What do we do?"

And for the first time in a very long while, the leader of the sirens had no idea how to respond.

Author's Notes:

After what I did with Sombra, I felt the need to at least give a small mention of the IDW comic backstory of the sirens. But I didn't go into too much detail for it here since, frankly, I was never as happy with the story they gave the sirens as I was for the one they gave to Sombra.